ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court restrained the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) on Monday from selecting or appointing new employees in government departments pending decision of the court.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali issued the directives during the hearing of a case against the appointment of SPSC Chairman Mohammad Saleem Bhounr by the Sindh government.

The suo motu case was initiated on an application sent to the chief justice by Advocate Mohammad Junaid Farooqui challenging the eligibility of the chairman as well as of eight members of the SPSC on the grounds that they did not possess the required qualification for the posts.

Syed Javed Ali Shah Bukhari, Shamsuddin Hisbani, Saindad Khan Solangi, Dr Baz Mohammad Junejo, Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh, Feroze Mehmood Bhatti, Ashique Ali Memon and Mohammad Hanif Pathan are members of the commission.

In response to the suo motu notice, the provincial government submitted a rejoinder through Advocate General for Sindh Zamir Ghumro denying the allegations that the chairman and the members were not competent to run the SPSC.

The law officer argued that the staying of future appointments would adversely affect Sindh since the commission had to appoint 3,000 doctors in the province.

However, the case had to be adjourned for Nov 3 when senior counsel Farooq H. Naek, representing the SPSC chairman, informed the court that he had not received the Sindh government’s report.

The court directed the counsel representing different parties to exchange copies of their respective applications.

On Jan 20 last year, the Sindh government had issued a notification appointing Saleem Bhounr as SPSC chairman for five years.

In its reply, the provincial government explained that the SPSC chairman was appointed under Article 242(1b) since it was a constitutional post, adding that the current SPSC chairman, who joined the Foreign Service in Nov 1987, had a career experience of over 20 years, including five years in grade-20.

Mr Bhounr has served as the country’s ambassador to Switzerland and worked in the Pakistan Air Force as commissioned officer in the administration branch from 1978 to 1987. He thus gained extensive experience in management, recruitment, selection, training of personnel, etc.

The Sindh government claimed that the performance of the chairman and members of the SPSC was above board and there were no allegations of misconduct, of their physical and mental incapacity or that they were unable to perform their duties.

In addition, it said, a similar constitutional petition was also pending before the Sindh High Court.

The provincial government requested the Supreme Court to dismiss Advocate Farooqui’s application in the larger interest of justice.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2016